Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore Jun. – Nov.

2019

15ECE381 Circuits and Communication Laboratory

B. Tech (Electronics and Communication) – V Semester

Week-4

Amplitude Modulation and Demodulation

Objective:

This week, the student will set up and study simple circuits to demonstrate the concepts of Amplitude
modulation and demodulation.
Vcc

R1 L C
Cc
Cc vo
Q1
D1 ’
vo vo
RE
fc
~ R2
CB C’
fm ~ R’

Fig. 1 Fig. 2

Procedure:

1. Consider the circuit shown in Fig. 1. Set up the amplifier consisting of the BJT Q 1 and the resistors R1 and R2
along with RE and the bypass capacitor CB. Use the SL100 for Q1. The tuned circuit formed by L and C is part of
the load impedance for this amplifier. Set Vcc = 10 V. The values of the various components are as follows: R 1
= 220 k; R2 = 56 k; RE = 1 k; L = 100 H; C = 100 nF. The emitter-bypass capacitance may be assumed to
be as large as 1 F. Please note that all capacitors are of ceramic type. For this part of the experiment, fc and
fm, which are two function generators, need not be connected.

Answer the following questions before coming to the lab:

2. Determine (analytically) the quiescent point of the transistor and note down your readings in Table 1.

Table 1 Operating point of the transistor Q1

Analysis Experimental
VB (V)
VC (V)
VE (V)
IE (mA)

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Amrita School of Engineering, Coimbatore Jun. – Nov. 2019

3. In which region is the transistor Q1 biased ?

4. What would be the gain of this amplifier ?

5. What class of amplifier is this ?

6. What is the purpose of the parallel circuit consisting of L and C ? What is the resonant frequency ?

7. Now, connect up the function generators fc and fm as shown in Fig. 1, where fc and fm represent the carrier
and modulating frequencies, respectively. The function generator fc may be set to an amplitude of 5 V and a
frequency as close to the resonant frequency as possible. Similarly, fm may be adjusted to provide a signal of
amplitude 2 V or less and of frequency 1 kHz. Both fc and fm are to be verified by means of the oscilloscope.

8. The coupling capacitors Cc may be taken as 1 F (ceramic).

9. Note down the waveform at vo. (You might have to adjust fc and fm to obtain a clean waveform at vo).

10. Repeat 6 for different values of the amplitude of fm. Calculate the modulation index in each case.

11. Connect up the circuit shown in Fig. 2. The diode D 1 is the OA79. R’ is chosen as 330 k and C’ as 1 nF.

12. Connect the output of your modulator (Fig. 1) to the input of Fig. 2. Plot the waveform obtained at the output
vo’. How is this different from the modulating signal fm?

13. Replace the OA79 with the 1N4007 and repeat 9. What do you observe ?

Answer the following questions:

1. In which region is the transistor Q1 biased ? What would be the gain of this amplifier ? What class of amplifier
is this ?

2. Observe the modulated waveforms for the modulation index values of a < 1, a = 1 and a > 1. What do you
infer from them ?

3. What is the purpose of the tuned LC circuit ? What is its frequency ?

4. What is the purpose of the combination of R’ and C’ at the output of the demodulator ? How does it affect
the operation of the demodulator ?

5. Explain the results obtained in Step 13 above.

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